Once dinner was over and done with, the guests started to leave with good spirits and full stomachs. A select few people strayed behind and stayed to help the waiters clean up. None of the employees had to be detectives to find out which guests would be kind enough to stay and help them clean up and puts things away. The employees actually expected for the Martins to stay alongside their friends such as Maddie Fitzpatrick and Bailey Pickett. They also were glad to see Mr. Moseby and his fiancée, Miss Tutweiller, stay behind to help as well. As a special surprise, London Tipton stayed to help as well. She made up an excuse that she wanted to see her friends and be with them, which wasn't a lie but London was softening up and maturing.

At first clean up wasn't as easy as it was expected but at least the clean-up crew had plenty of extra hands to help them out. Zack carried dirty dishes to the kitchen with two waiters while Carey and Miss Tutweiller brought in the silverware. Mr. Moseby and Cody were taking off decorations and the napkins with the napkin rings from the tables while Bailey and Maddie pulled off table clothes. London swept the floor while other employees took care of scraps of food left on the tables and on the floor. After everything was taken care of, the ballroom was clean. Some could even say that it was spotless like the ballroom was never used.

After the clean-up, everyone else that had stayed behind left the ballroom in small groups. The employees left first then Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller left right behind them. Maddie, Zack, London, and Carey left with each other and Cody and Bailey were the last to leave. When Cody and Bailey had completely vacated the ballroom and entered the lobby, they could clearly see that their friends had submerged themselves in deep conversation about a variety of topics. Cody and Bailey weren't exactly in the lobby but they were under a doorway were decorations could be hung over their heads. The young couple didn't mind themselves to move from where they stood because they immersed in observing their friends. As Cody and Bailey observed the actions of their friends and even some of the other guests' actions, they felt as though there were going to be good tidings for the new year of 2012. They had good connotations in their souls and in their hearts that the New Year would bring good things.

Little children were racing through towards the arcade to play games while their parents relaxed in the lobby talking to each other or reading books. As children left the vicinity of the lobby, Carey was busy talking to Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller. Zack and Maddie were talking with London. As people occupied themselves with simple chitter chatter and enjoyable company, the evening of Christmas Eve aged as time slipped by like the last sands slipping down in an hour glass. Everything seemed so peaceful, everyone seemed so calm. Cody took the opportunity to look over to Bailey to strike up a conversation with her. The intelligent, blonde haired young man softly swiveled on his heels to turn towards his girlfriend. Bailey felt a soft stare emitting onto her from Cody and faced him.

"Hi, Bailey."

"Hi, Cody."

"What did you think of the dinner?"

"Cody, why are you just talking small talk?"

"Why not? At least we're talking. By the way, how was dinner?"

"I guess you have a point. At least we are talking. Not talking to you for very long would kill me. To answer your original question, I enjoyed the dinner. What about you?"

"I thought that the dinner was great. There was plenty to go around. Crab, pasta, bread and salad and let's not forget about the desert."

"The apple crisp was great."

"And while the adults had Irish coffee, all the under-aged guests had peppermint hot chocolate or tea."

"That was a nice touch to add to the desert after dinner."

"I agree, Bailey. But we also had the option of thumbprint cookies filled with strawberry jam and grape jelly."

"Those cookies were delicious."

"Yes, they were very tempting to me."

"I agree that they were tempting, Cody. By the way, what time is it?"

Cody quickly looked at his watch that was under his red long sleeve and read the time.

"It's eight thirty now. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to keep track of time."

"Well, that's understandable. But don't you sometime want for time slip by?"

"We did that at dinner. We were fine."

"But what could we do now? I don't think that we want time to pass us by slowly at this point in the evening."

"We could find a topic to talk about."

"Like what? We need something to really distract us for a good long while."

"Um, Cody, I have a question."

"What is it Bailey?"

"Were you being serious when you said what you said when I told you that I saw your shrine?"

"Yes. Of course, I was being serious."

"Well, I guess I can relax now. I was just checking."

"There's no need for you to feel insecure about us, Bailey."

"Alright, I believe you."

Bailey shied away from Cody's stare. She suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable around him for some odd reason. Bailey awkwardly looked up at the ceiling with her hand behind her back and allowed her eyes to travel along the view of grooves in the ceiling and the decorations. All the bright colors attracted her to look onward just avoid eye contact with Cody. While Bailey looked around, she rocked herself back and forth on her feet before speaking up again.

"You know, Cody, the Tipton employees did a fine job of decorating the lobby."

Cody just looked up the decorations and had to agree with Bailey but quickly looked back to her direction and gave her a hum as a response to show her that he heard her. Bailey still looked at the ceiling until she spotted a particular piece of decoration that hung deliberately over her and Cody's heads. A deep crimson color surfaced quickly on Bailey's fair colored cheeks and had spread like wildfire across her nose and cheeks. Bailey finally found the source of her feeling nervous around Cody and it mistletoe. Bailey dropped her head back into the normal position and turned back Cody.

"Cody, look up. There's something hanging over our heads."

Cody calmly looked up above his head and spotted the mistletoe. He suddenly felt nervous and began to shutter. His body shook as he became anxious. He looked back at Bailey with a matching blush.

"Uh, Bailey, we're under the mistletoe."

"I know. That's why I wanted you to look up so you would know."

"Well, um, do you… I mean do you think that you want to…?"

Bailey backed up against one of the sides of the doorway. Cody noticed Bailey's response which caused him to awkwardly look back up the mistletoe. Cody thought about the mistletoe and had a something to talk about it.

"You know, Bailey, mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemi-parasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales."

"Yes, I know. Mistletoe would be attached to a tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium and absorbs nutrients from the host plant. Although as a Christmas tradition, people, particularly couples, kiss under the mistletoe."

"Uh huh."

"Cody?"

"Yeah, Bailey?"

Cody looked back at Bailey as soon as she called his name in the form of a question. Bailey turned her head back to Cody's direction so that she would be facing him.

"Will we kiss? I mean we don't have to do so if we don't feel comfortable."

"Well, we could move on. You know, just walk under and away from the mistletoe and move on with our lives. Standing the mistletoe sure does make us feel uncomfortable."

"Um sure, Cody, if that's alright with you."

Cody stood where he was as he stared at Bailey. She looked so beautiful and so shy. He knew that he was witnessing a vulnerable side of Bailey and it the type of vulnerable side where she appeared cute. Bailey appeared to be adorable to Cody as he watched her stay still while leaning against the right side of the doorway. Things became very awkward between Cody and Bailey as they had ceased to move and Cody hadn't realized how long he was staring at Bailey. The silent tension caused Bailey to turn her head away from Cody. In the instant that Bailey had turned her head away from Cody for what would be the last time, Cody decided to do something about. He knew what he wanted to do; it was just a matter of getting Bailey's attention. Cody quietly inched forward.

"Bailey."

Before Bailey could turn her head around, Cody, in one swift and smooth motion, placed his right hand on her left cheek, turned her head all the way to face him and pulled her in for a kiss. Cody placed his left hand on Bailey's right cheek and leaned into the kiss. Bailey's eyes were wide open as she was not expecting such a sudden and bold action from Cody to kiss her underneath the mistletoe. But within a few seconds after her initial shock, Bailey closed her eyes and melted into kiss and wrapped her arms around Cody's neck. Cody pinned Bailey to the side of the doorway with his body as he softly kissed her on the lips and began to caress her left cheek with his right hand by lightly brushing the backside of his fingers against the soft skin. Bailey lightly played with the loose strands of hair that clung to Cody's neck as a response to Cody caressing her cheek. The kiss lasted for two minutes and once it was over, Cody and Bailey pulled away to see that either of their partner no longer had a deep crimson color etched into their cheeks. In fact, both Cody and Bailey returned to their confident, calm and content selves. They no longer had a shy demeanor. Cody and Bailey widely smiled at each other. They began to laugh as they realized how sill they were acting for quite a while ago.

"What happened to us?"

"I don't know, Cody. All I know is that we're out of our awkward and nervous states and we should be happy now."

"I agree. Do you want to save our evening by doing simple yet pleasing activities with each other, Bailey?"

"I would like that but I think we need to pick a different location since the lobby looks pretty crowded."

"I would like to be with you in a more private and comfortable place. How about we go up to the 23rd floor?"

"That sounds perfect. You're place or mine?"

"I want to relax with you in your room. I'm afraid that we won't have enough privacy if Zack or my mom came back before the night was over."

"I agree with you, Cody."

Cody and Bailey walked away from the mistletoe and weaved their way through the crowd of people and made their way to the elevators. When one of the elevators opened up, they went straight up to the 23rd floor and headed straight for Bailey's hotel room.